What's New

Religious and Social Reform in 19th century India

The Indian Renaissance

The advent of the English was the ignition for the renaissance in India. Suddenly Indians were exposed to the scientific thoughts, new discoveries and free-thinking. Indian treasure of scholarship was housed in the Vedas, Upanishads, Sutras, the epics and such scriptures. This realization ushered in the era of Indian renaissance.

Gurudwara Reform Movement

Recently, the centenary of the Sri Nankana Sahib massacre (popularly known as Saka Nankana Sahib) was marked. This agitation was a big leap in the Gurdwara Reform movement.

About Gurudwara Reform Movement

• Gurdwara Reform movement/ Akali Movement was Sikhs’ long-drawn campaign between 1920 to 1925 for the lib eration of their Gurdwaras or holy shrines from the priests (Mahants) who had asserted property rights over Gurdwaras. It was an offshoot of the Singh Sabha Movement (1873).
• The properties of places of worship of Sikhs were transferred and given over to the Udasi Mahants by Britishers. Mahants considered the Gurdwara as their fiefdom and encouraged practices such as idol worship, discrimination with Dalits, drinking etc. in violation of the tenets of Sikhism.
• Sikhs claimed that Gurdwaras were public property, hence, the public could remove mahanats in case of their inability to conform to the wishes of people.
• People who agitated against such persons, were suppressed by the Government and the result was Gurdwara Reform movement/Akali Movement in which Sikhs had to face imprisonment, suffer atrocity and death.

Events related to Gurdwara Reform Movement

• Formation of Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC): SGPC came to existence in November 1920, a month after Sikhs removed partial restrictions on Dalit rights inside Golden Temple in Amritsar. It started gurdwara reform movement which was aimed at taking possession of historical Sikh Gurd waras. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was also founded in December, 1920.
• Nankana Sahib Massacre: In February 1921, a band of more than 100 Sikhs were brutally killed by Narayan Das the mahant ofNankana Sahib (the birthplace of Guru Nanak) and his army. To hail the non-violent resistance by Sikhs the Indian National Congress passed a resolu tion in Gaya session (December 1921).
• Other campaigns like Guru Ka Bagh Morcha (1922), Jaito Morcha (1923) etc. were also held whichultimately led to enactment of Gurdwara Act, 1925.
• Gurdwara Act, 1925: The British government finally passed the Gurdwaras Act in 1925, making SGPC a democratic body for better administration’ of Certain Sikh Gurdvvaras. This act enables SGPC to control all the Historical Gurdwaras as well as Gurdwaras under Section 87 of this act.

Ramakrishna Mission (Prabuddha Bharata)

`Prabuddha Bharata’ journal celebrated its 125th anniversary.

About Prabuddha Bharata

Prabuddha Bharata or Awakened India is an english-language monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Mission. Prabuddha Bharata was founded in 1896 by P. Aiyasami, B. R. Rajam Iyer, G. G. Narasimhacharya, and B. V. Karnes vara Iyer, in Madras (now Chennai), at the behest of Swami Vivekananda.

It is the “longest-running” monthly English magazine of the country.

It carries articles on social sciences and humanities comprising historical, psychological, cultural, and social sciences themes.

Luminaries like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Sister Nivedita, Sri Aurobindo, Sarvepalli Radhalcrishnan etc. wrote in the journal.

Other Publications from Ramakrishna Mission: Udbodhan, Bengali Monthly started by Swami Vivekananda in January 1899; Vedanta Kesari is cultural and Spriritual Magazines in English. It was started in 1914; and Sri Ramalcrishna Vijayam, the Tamil monthly magazine started in 1921.

About Ramakrishna Mission

• Ramakrishna Mission was founded near Calcutta (now Kolkata) by Vivekananda in 1897 with a two-fold purpose: to spread the teachings of Vedanta as embodied in the life of the Hindu saint Ramakrislma (1836-86) and to improve the social conditions of the Indian
• It is a philanthropic and volunteer organisation.
• Mission Motto is Atmano Mokshartham Jagad Hitaya Cha, “For one’s own salvation and for the welfare of the world”. It was formulated by Swami Vivekananda.
• Organization is based on the three core ideals: Work as wor ship, potential divinity of the soul, and harmony of religions.

Social Reformers and Movements

Raja Ram Mohan Roy

• He was born in 1772 and is considered as the first ‘modern man of India’.

He studied the Bible as well as Hindu and Muslim religious texts. He had excellent command over many languages including English, Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, French, Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

• Reestablished the Atmiya Sabha in 1815, which developed into Brahmo Samaj in 1828. The objective of the organiza tion was to purify Hinduism of medieval irrelevant practices and to preach monotheism.
• Raj Rammohan Roy is most remembered for helping Lord William Bentinck to declare the practice of Sati a punish able offence in 1829.
• He also protested against the child marriage and female infanticide and favoured the remarriage of widows, female education and women’s right to property.
• In 1817, he founded the Hindu College (now Presidency College, Calcutta) along with David .Hare, a missionary.
• Rammohan Roy started the first Bengali weekly Samvad Kaumudi and edited a Persian weekly Mirat-ul-akhbar.

Henry Vivian Derozio (Young Bengal Movement)

• He was born in Calcutta in 1809 and taught in the Hindu Col lege, Calcutta. His followers were known as the Derozians and their movement the Young Bengal Movement.
• They attacked old traditions and decadent customs. They also advocated women’s rights and their education. They founded associations and organized debates against idol worship, casteism and superstitions.

Swami Dayanand Saraswati

• The Arya Samaj was founded by Swami Dayanand Saras wathi at Bombay in 1875.
• He was a revivalist and believed the Vedas were the source of true knowledge. Thus gave the motto “Back to the Vedas”.
• He was against idol worship, child marriage and caste system based on birth. He encouraged inter-caste marriages and widow remarriage.
• He started the Suddhi movement to bring back those Hindus who had converted to other religions to its fold. He wrote the Book Satyartha Prakash which contains his ideas.

Arya samaj

Swami Dayanandha saraswathi was the became very powerful in Punjab and spread its influence on other parts of India. Lala Lajpat Rai was the member of Arya Samaj in Punjab.

prarthana Samaj

The Prarthana Samaj was founded in 1867 in Bombay by Dr. Atmaram Pandurang. It was an off-shoot of Brahmo Samaj. It was a reform movement within Hinduism and concentrat ed on social reforms like inter-dining, inter-marriage, widow remarriage and uplift of women and depressed classes Justice MG Ranade and RG Bhandarkar were prominent members of the organization.

Swami Vivekananda (Ramakrishna Mission)

His original name was Narendranath Dutta (1863-1902) and he was the most famous disciple of Shri Ramlaishna Paramahamsa.

In 1886, Narendranath took the vow of Sanyasa and was given the name, Vivekananda.

He preached Vedantic Philosophy, condemned the caste system and the current Hindu emphasis on rituals and ceremonies.

Swami Vivekananda participated at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago (USA) in September 1893.

He founded the Ramakrishna Mission at Belur in Howrah in 1897. It is a social service and charitable society.

Theosophical

The Theosophical Society was founded in New York (USA) in 1875 by Madam H.P. Blavatsky, a Russian lady, and Henry Steel Olcott, an American colonel.

Their main objectives was to form a universal brotherhood of man without any distinction of race, colour or creed and to promote the study of ancient religions and philoso phies.

They arrived in India and established their headquarters at Adyar in Madras in 1882. Later in 1893, Mrs. Annie Besant arrived in India and took over the leadership of the Society after the death of Olcott.

Mrs. Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu School along with Madan Mohan Malaviya at Benaras which later developed into the Banaras Hindu University.

pandit lshwar Chandra Vidyasgar

Born in 1820 in Bengal, Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a great educator, humanist and social reformer.

He firmly believed that reform in Indian society could only come about through education. Vidyasagar founded many schools for girls. He helped J.D. Bethune to establish the Bethune School. He founded the Metropolitan Institution in Calcutta.

He protested against  child marriage and favoured widow remarriage which was legalized by the Widow Remarriage Act(1856)

Jyotibha phule

• A social reformer from low caste in Maharashtra, Jyotiba Phule in 1873 founded the Satyashodak Samaj to fight against the caste system.
• He pioneered the widow remarriage movement in Maharashtra and worked for the education for women.
• Jyotiba Phule and his wife (Savitri bai Phule) established the first girls’ school at Poona in 1851.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

• Sir Syed Ahmed Khan started the Aligarh Movement in 1875 for the social and educational advancement of the Muslims in India.
• He fought against the medieval backwardness and advocated a rational approach towards religion.
• In 1875, he founded a modem school at Aligarh to promote English education among the Muslims. This later grown into the Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College and then into the Aligarh Muslim University.

Deoband School

• The orthodox section among the Muslim ulema organised the Deoband Movement.
• It was a revivalist movement whose twin objectives were — to propagate among the Muslims the pure teachings of the Koran and the Hadis and to keep alive the spirit of jihad against the foreign rulers.

Sikh Reform Movement

• Baba Dayal Das founded the Nirankari Movement and insisted the worship of God as nirankar (formless).
• The Namdhari Movement was founded by Baba Ram Singh. His followers wore white clothes and gave up meat eating.
• In 1920, the Akafis started a movement to remove the corrupt Mahants (priests) from the Sikh Gurudwaras.

Parsi Reform Movement

The Parsi Religious Reform Association was founded at
Bombay by Furdunji Naoroji and S.S. Bengalee in 1851.

They advocated the spread of women’s education. They also wanted to reform their marriage customs.

Naoroji also published a monthly journal, Jagat Mithra.

Southern Movements

Saint Ramalinga

Saint Ramalinga was one of the foremost saints of Tamil Nadu in the nineteenth centuty.

In 1865 he founded the Samarasa Suddha Sanmargha Sangha for the promotion of his ideals of establishing a casteless society. He preached love and compassion to the people.

He composed Tim Arutpa. His other literary works include Manu Murai Kanda Vasagam and Jeeva Karunyam.